Icelandic Level 5 plus

Prerequisite for entry

Basic knowledge of Icelandic (successful completion of Icelandic syllabus 5 at UCL Language Centre or other comparable studies).

Term duration

10 x 2-hour classes.

Aims and objectives

The aim of the course is to enable students who are approaching fluency in Icelandic to practice their linguistic skills through a variety of activities (debates, games, oral comprehension etc). The grammar will still be an issue to tackle, but more and more students are encouraged to trust their grounding and start reading texts on their own, watch films & television in Icelandic and communicate in Icelandic outside the classroom whenever possible. Newspapers, magazines and material from Icelandic television will be read, listened to and discussed.

Functions

• Relating what has happened before
• Relating what has happened a long time ago
• Current affairs
• Politics
• Recent changes in Icelandic society
• The Icelandic Sagas

Linguistic structures/ Phonetics

Recognising/understanding any kind of discourse

Grammar

• The past participle
• The demonstrative pronouns (þessi, sá, hinn)
• Declension of indefinite pronouns
• Declension and usage of the pronoun hver
• The passive with the verbs að vera (personal & impersonal passive)

Learning resources

Books

• Course book: Colloquial Icelandic, Daisy Newman;
• Teacher’s handouts
• Online material from Bragi - íslenska

Dictionaries

• Glossaries from Colloquial Icelandic & Learning Icelandic
• Íslensk ensk orðabók - Iðunn
• Ensk-íslensk skólaorðabók – Mál & Menning
• Ordabok

In addition there is a wide range of language learning materials for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.